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India-Pakistan

Four killed in Wana firing

2016-12-06

[DAWN] WANA: In what could be described as a deadly mix-up, four people were killed when security personnel opened fire on their vehicle in Barmalzai tehsil of South Wazoo Agency on Monday. The security forces opened fire on a suspected vehicle on an unfrequented route near the Barmalzai Fort, leaving four persons dead. Eight people were traveling in the pick-up vehicle which was on its way from Angor Adda to Wana, said sources. The security personnel mistook the inmates for bully boys. According to a political administration’s statement, the dear departed were identified as Manikhel, Ghulam Khan and Inayat of North Waziristan Agency while the fourth one was identified as Neik Sadin of South Wazristan Agency. Four others, identified as Sher Jan, Fazal Manan, Eid Muhammad and a woman, Noor Bano, were taken into custody. According to the locals of the area, the incident took place due to a misunderstanding as the unfrequented route was used as an alternative to other roads closed in Dattakhel and surrounding areas.

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India-Pakistan

Air strikes, clash kill 34 militants in NWA

2016-02-29

[DAWN] An army officer, four soldiers and at least 34 suspected hard boyz were killed in a clash, air strikes and a landmine kaboom on Saturday as the security forces kicked off a ground offensive in Shawal and Dattakhel area ... which is owned and operated by Hafiz Gul Behadur... s of North Wazoo Agency (NWA). The offensive has been dubbed the last phase of Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... operation. According to an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, the clash took place after troops surrounded a group of fleeing hard boyz in Mangroti, near the Afghan border. At least 19 hard boyz were killed and an unspecified number injured in an intense exchange of fire. An officer, Captain Umair, and three soldiers bit the dust in the clash. The ISPR said the ground operation in Shawal was progressing smoothly. According to reports, air force planes destroyed four hideouts and killed at least 15 suspected hard boyz in bombing raids in Dattakhel.

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India-Pakistan

19 militants, 4 security personnel killed in Shawal offensive

2016-02-28

PESHAWAR: The military’s media wing claimed on Saturday that at least 19 suspected militants were killed in Shawal area near the Pak-Afghan border, four security personnel also lost their lives. In a statement the Inter-Services Public Relations said that ground forces surrounded a group of alleged terrorists in Mangroti area near the Pak-Afghan border. At least 19 suspected terrorists were killed and several injured in the exchange of fire which also resulted in the death of four military men, the ISPR stated. However, this information could not be independently verified as journalists have limited access to the war-torn region. The ISPR said that the deceased security personnel have been identified as Capt Umair, Havaldar Hakim and Sepoy Hameed and Sepoy Rashid. 15 'terrorists' killed in North Waziristan At least 15 suspected militants were killed during air strikes conducted by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets in the Maisar area of Dattakhel Tehsil in South Waziristan Agency. Officials told Dawn.com that at least 15 suspected militants were killed after jets targeted four positions in the restive agency's Dattakhel area. According to official statements, over 3,500 militants have been killed in operation Zarb-i-Azb, while the offensive forced over a million civilians to vacate their homes and move to settled areas of the country. Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif ordered troops on Wednesday to march on the last bastion of terrorists in Shawal valley of North Waziristan to take operation Zarb-i-Azb to its logical end.

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India-Pakistan

31 killed in air strikes on TTP, LI hideouts

2015-09-04

[DAWN] At least 31 suspected faceless myrmidons were killed and several others injured when military planes poun­ded hideouts of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam ...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver.... (LI) in North Wazoo and Khyber agencies on Wednesday. According to an ISPR statement, "31 bad boyz were potted and their hideouts were destroyed in Khyber and North Waziristan agencies. Fourteen bad boyz were potted in area close to Pak-Afghan border in Khyber agency and 17 turbans in Shawal area of North Waziristan". Informed sources said that the planes targeted myrmidons' positions in Zoi, Zaidgai and Mana areas of Shawal and Dattakhel in North Waziristan close to South Waziristan border. They said the air strikes started at 9:30am and continued for two hours, destroying five hideouts. In Khyber Agency left... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though... />, the ISPR said, the air strikes were conducted in Rajgul and Ghaibee Kandaw passes of Kukikhel ...a tribe of primitives inhabiting Khyber Agency. They are a branch of the Afridi tribe. Traditionally they have been migratory, tromping between Jamrud and the Rajgal valley with the seasons. The tribe has had mustache-cursing relationships with several other tribes, including the Zakkakhel and Kambarkhel, and with the Mullagori. They make welcome most anyone with a turban and automatic weapons, but every once in awhile they get together a tribal lashkar to mollify the government... territory in Tirah valley. The planes targeted hideouts of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain and Lashkar-e-Islam in the area, killing 14 turbans and injuring five others. Five hideouts were destroyed, the statement said. The air strikes were carried out a day after a suicide kaboom in Jamrud in which four people, including two Khasadar personnel, were killed and over 50 civilians were maimed. Both Taliban and LI grabbed credit of the attack.

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India-Pakistan

31 'suspected militants' killed in North Waziristan, Khyber air blitz

2015-09-03

[DAWN] At least 17 suspected bandidos murderous Moslems were killed and their hideouts destroyed when military planes carried out Arclight airstrikes targeting terrorist infrastructure near the Pak-Afghan border in North Wazoo, the military's media wing said on Wednesday. The Inter-Services Public Relations further said that 14 more suspected bandidos murderous Moslems were killed earlier in the day in Khyber Agency left... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though... />, taking the total corpse count from Wednesday's air strikes to 31. The conflict zone of North Waziristan is off-limits to journalists making it difficult to verify the army's claims, including the number and identity of those killed. Earlier this week, an attempted suicide kaboom on the Political Agent office in Khyber Agency's Jamrud area left four people ─ including two Khasadar Levies men ─ dead and 56 others injured. Since the beginning of Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... in June 2014, bandidos murderous Moslems have fled to other tribal regions, including Khyber and its Tirah Valley and Shawal in North Waziristan, all of which border Afghanistan. In June this year, on the eve of the operation's first anniversary, the army said it had eliminated 2,763 bully boyz during the year. There has, however, been no explanation as to how this precise figure about krazed killer casualties has been collected because a large number of them are said to have been killed in strikes by Pakistain Air Force jets. At that time, officials had said another 218 terrorist had been killed in intelligence-based operations (IBOs) conducted in other parts of the country to prevent the feared backlash of Zarb-e-Azb. The IBOs are flaunted by the military as a major success story. But, this has come at the cost of 347 troops and displacement of over a million people. Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived... Pakistain strongly condemned Tuesday's US drone strike in the north-western area of the North Waziristan Agency, which resulted in at least five casualties. The drone, according to sources, fired two missiles on a compound in Karwanda village in Dattakhel, 40km to the west of regional headquarters of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , at 11pm. FO front man Qazi Khalilullah said Pakistain condemns such strikes "which are in disregard of our territorial illusory sovereignty and international law." "These strikes also generate distrust among the local populace. We reiterate our call for cessation of such strikes," the front man remarked.

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India-Pakistan

Preliminary phase of Shawal operation successful: army

2015-07-05

[DAWN] The army said on Friday it had successfully completed the preliminary phase of the operation in Shawal and it was now dominating all peaks around the valley in North Wazoo, ahead of the final push to flush out snuffies from their last redoubt near the Afghan border. The statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations came the day it was announced that 200 displaced families were returning to Mirali. In the second phase of the repatriation, 414 families of the Edak tribe have so far returned to Mirali sub-district. The families were escorted by army troops. The Fata Disaster Management Authority said the process of repatriation would continue during the month of Ramazan. The Edak tribe was the last to leave North Waziristan and is the first to return. "We are now ready to move in," a security bigshot said, adding: "We are now dominating all the mountain ridges around Shawal. This will be the last phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... ." The military which remained stuck in Dattakhel, 55km west of North Waziristan's regional headquarters of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , has gained ground and moved closer to the thickly-forested valley. Like Tirah, this will be the first time troops will be moving into Shawal, an area infested with local and foreign snuffies who have fled from Miranshah and Mirali. According to ISPR, Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif visited combat areas in North Waziristan on Friday and commended professionalism, sacrifices and high morale of troops who had taken part in the first round of Shawal operation. The military earlier announced that it had successfully completed the Operation Khyber-II, flushing out both local and foreign snuffies from Khyber Agency, adjacent to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , and securing important positions. According to ISPR, Gen Raheel was briefed by the formation commander on the progress of Zarb-e-Azb and future plans to cleanse the remaining pockets in Shawal of terrorists. Zarb-e-Azb was launched in June last year and the army claimed that 90 per cent area of the troubled tribal region had been cleared. The repatriation of internally displaced persons to the cleared areas is under way. The army chief praised the special integrated teams which had carried out intelligence-based operations in urban areas and severed the links between terrorists' sanctuaries in remote areas and their sleeper cells in cities and directed that these operations be continued to apprehend all forces of Evil and their controllers and financiers without any discrimination and irrespective of the cost. "We will not stop unless we achieve our end objective of a terror-free Pakistain," the ISPR quoted Gen Raheel as saying.

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India-Pakistan

Conclusive phase of Zarb-i-Azb next month

2015-06-14

[DAWN] The army is finalising plans to launch the final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... in mid-July to flush out Taliban bandidos bandidos murderous Moslems from their remaining strongholds along the border with Afghanistan. "Preliminary preparations for the final push have started, which will begin next month," a senior military official told Dawn during a background briefing on the eve of the first anniversary of the commencement of Zarb-e-Azb. The final drive will be in south of Dattakhel towards the border through the forested and mountainous Shawal Valley. A large number of snuffies fleeing the operation in other parts of North Wazoo are believed to have taken refuge in Shawal Valley, which is considered to be an Al Qaeda sanctuary and a stronghold of Gul Bahadur, a warlord once considered pro-government. Shawal has also been the focus of US drone attacks this year with seven of the nine strikes hitting targets in the valley in which at least 43 suspected snuffies were killed. "Operation ZeA moves to last few pockets close to Pak-Afghan border," military front man Maj Gen Asim Bajwa, meanwhile, said in a twitter posting. At the same time, in Khyber Agency, which the army claims has been mostly cleared through Operations Khyber I and II, troops would be clearing "a remaining small pocket," abutting on Orakzai Agency ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers... , besides "consolidating their earlier gains".

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India-Pakistan

US drone strike kills four suspected militants in North Waziristan

2015-06-02

[DAWN] At least four suspected forces of Evil were killed when a US drone targeted a vehicle in Shawal Tehsil of North Wazoo Agency, near the Afghan border, late on Monday. According to intelligence sources two missiles were fired by the unmanned aircraft which hit the vehicle, destroying it completely. They further said that several drones were reportedly flying over the border of North and South Waziristan Agency in Shawal valley since evening. About the possible targets hit in the strike, the sources said that information is being collected but the identity of suspected forces of Evil is yet to be ascertained. Dattakhel and Shawal are by far the two major areas where the military is concentrating on air power to soften up the area infested by local and foreign Lion of Islams. North Waziristan is among Pakistain's seven tribal districts near the Afghan border which are rife with bandidos hard boys and are alleged to be strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, among others. Drone attacks are widely unpopular across Pakistain and according to survey conducted in June last year, 66 per cent of the country's citizens oppose these strikes.

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India-Pakistan

13 suspected militants killed in North Waziristan blitz: ISPR

2015-05-21

[DAWN] At least 13 suspected Death Eaters were killed on Wednesday during Arclight airstrikes conducted by military fighter jets in the Dattakhel area ... which is owned and operated by Hafiz Gul Behadur... of North Wazoo Tribal Agency, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The statement added that five hideouts of the Death Eaters were also destroyed in the blitz. The Pakistain Army launched Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... , a comprehensive operation in 2014, against foreign and local Lions of Islam who were hiding in sanctuaries in the North Waziristan tribal region, a week after the brazen holy warrior attack on the country's busiest airport in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... The tribal region, which borders with Afghanistan, has been used as a base by Death Eaters over the years. According to the ISPR, troops have been deployed along its border with neighbouring agencies to block any movement of Lions of Islam in and out of the region. North Waziristan is one of the seven regions in Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws which is situated along the Pak-Afghan border and is rife with Taliban Death Eater activity.

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India-Pakistan

34 militants killed in Waziristan

2015-04-24

[Dawn] At least 34 suspected Death Eaters were killed in festivities in South Waziris­tan and air strikes in North Wazoo on Tuesday night. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Wednesday that 22 Death Eaters had been killed in "precise air strikes in areas ahead of Dattakhel". Sources said military planes pounded myrmidon hideouts in Toor Tangi area of Dattakhel and Zoi Saidgi of Shawal. Three hideouts and compounds were destroyed and 22 terrorists, including a key Taliban capo, were killed. An ISPR front man told Dawn that another 12 Death Eaters were killed in festivities with security forces in Shaktui and Kajhori areas of South Waziristan. Intelligence and myrmidon sources confirmed the reports. They said a group of Death Eaters attacked a checkpost in Karkanrh area of Shaktui. Five Death Eaters were killed after security forces fired back. Troops took hold o four bodies while the Death Eaters managed to take away one body. A search operation is under way in the Shaktui area and all entry and exit points have been sealed. The sources said Death Eaters fired rockets on checkposts in Dadam Shah, Lakki Sra, Kajhori Top, and Kajhori West in Ghimbaki area of South Waziristan at 11pm on Tuesday. They used heavy weapons in the attack. The security forces returned fire, killing seven myrmidons, including commander Malang. But Tari Azam, a front man of the Mehsud myrmidon group, claimed that only five Death Eaters were maimed. The sources said Death Eaters also fired rockets on Larami checkpost in Tangi Badinzai area of South Waziristan on Tuesday. Three security personnel suffered injuries. The security forces, they said, had advanced into Tangi Badinzai area, once a stronghold of myrmidon commander Shamim Masud. According to the sources, security personnel have started establishing bunkers in the area after consolidating their positions.

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India-Pakistan

92 suspected militants killed in strikes

2015-01-29

[DAWN] Seventy-six suspected bully boyz were killed in North Wazoo and 16 in Khyber Agency when planes pounded their hideouts in the two volatile regions on Tuesday, the military said. "In a precise aerial strike in Dattakhel area ... which is owned and operated by Hafiz Gul Behadur... of North Waziristan in the afternoon, 53 bad boys, including 12 foreigners, were killed. Six hideouts, an ammunition dump and seven explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed," said an ISPR statement. The jet fighters targeted bad boys' positions in Kharh Tangi, some 35km west of the agency headquarters of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... . Most of the foreigners killed were Uzbeks, military sources said. Also read: General Raheel vows 'not to abandon Fata without restoring peace' In another strike in the same area later, 23 bully boyz were killed, the ISPR claimed. Since the area is off-limits to journalists, it is difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

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India-Pakistan

15 'militants' killed in tribal areas

2015-01-11

[DAWN] At least 15 suspected faceless myrmidons were killed in a clash with security forces, artillery shelling and an kaboom inside a bunker in Dattakhel area ... which is owned and operated by Hafiz Gul Behadur... of North Wazoo and Tirah valley in Khyber tribal region on Friday. According to sources, eight suspected faceless myrmidons were killed as security personnel repulsed a Taliban attack on their camp in Dattakhel in the small hours of Friday. The troops resorted to intense firing after faceless myrmidons fired 15 rockets at the camp and the suspects were killed during the ensuing clash. Dattakhel was placed under a curfew and security forces launched a search operation in the area to track down the attackers. In Tirah valley, an accidental blast in a bunker in Khyber Sangar area of Sipah left four activists of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam ...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver.... group dead early in the morning. Security personnel stationed at the Jarrobi camp pounded the place with shells while the LIs activists were retrieving the bodies of their colleagues. Three suspected LI activists were killed in the shelling. The bunker was located in a stronghold of the LI that was reportedly controlled by the groups chief. LI activists had in the past defended the bunker against rival groups Ansaarul Islam and Tauheedul Islam.

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